Wednesday, November 27, 2013

NaNoWriMo A Success!

Last night I exceeded the 50K word count goal for NaNoWriMo so I'm happy.  I was so engrossed in the writing that I never considered that I wouldn't reach the goal.  I never had any trouble with writers block, because of some advice I read, which was, 'Write what you would want to read.'  Which is great advice. I had a blast working on this novel, so it never seemed like work.

Most days I probably only wrote for a maximum of three hours, sometimes less, and I never had a problem reaching the word count goal.  If I had tried I could have probably reached the 50K a lot sooner, but that wasn't the point of my first attempt at NaNoWriMo.  All I wanted to do was reach that 50K mark by the end of the month. The fact that I reached it early is icing on the cake.

Of course the novel still needs work.  In fact, I'm sure I'll write many more words for it, but I've got a great start on the first draft. I've got a beginning, alot of middle and an ending.  Now all I have to do is flesh it out.  From what I understand about this process, that's what NaNoWriMo is mostly about.

The working title of my novel is, The Mozaic: Shattering the Veil.  It's a fantasy, but there are no elves, or dwarves, orcs, or other such fantasy races.  There are lizardmen, and Saurians, but the rest of the races are intelligent animals.  There's also magic, because what's a fantasy novel without fantasy?  Well, I guess it would be a fantasy novel without magic.

Anyway, me am running out of good words.  So until next time Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

NaNoWriMo Update

My first attempt at NaNoWriMo is going well. As of last night, my total word count is 35,052 which puts me a couple of days ahead of schedule. So far, I haven't had any trouble with writers block, or any trouble motivating myself to write. If anything the opposite is true. I have to get up, and do other things, otherwise I might write all day.

I can't let other things go by the wayside. I also have trouble with what I call the idea dust bunnies. I came up with the name after learning about plot bunnies at the NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Party at the public library.

 Idea dust bunnies are ideas that come to you as you work on a project, but you don't have a place yet to fit them in. So they pile up, like the literal dust bunnies under your bed. There kind of annoying because I want to use them, but I just don't know when or how I will.

One of those ideas is a flower I came up with, it's called a Skull Blossom. When it closes up at night it looks like a human skull. I thought it was a good idea, but really didn't have a use for it in the novel. So one day I just started writing a section with a herbalist tending to his garden, and one of the things he does is cut off some of the Skull Blossoms to use as a healing herb. Then he sat and watched as they closed up for the night. The bonus of writing the section is that I also came up with a new, quirky character. One idea leads to another, and another... an idea cascade, or I guess an idea avalanche.

I had told one of the other writers at a Write In about the idea, and she thought it was cool. So the next Saturday at the Mid-Way Party,she asked me if she could use it in a book she is writing. Of course I said it was okay, and she wrote my full name down. So I will get credit for the idea. I really like the idea of Skull Blossoms being in more than one book.

So far NaNoWriMo has been a great experience. It's been really motivating going to the Write Ins, updating my word count on the website, and just meeting other writers. In fact I've gotten so many other things done since I started the novel. I don't sit around watching a lot of television. I'm getting things done! The sad thing it only lasts for the month, so I will probably look for a writers group to get involved in.

Once I finish the first draft, I'm not sure what I will do with the book. I thought about self publishing, probably first in an eBook format, but that's still a ways off. If I can find a publisher great if not, it's not that big a deal. I'm basically writing something I would want to read. That's probably why it's been so easy. The first draft is going to need some polishing, and I will need to make it longer. 50,000 words is a short novel.

On a side note, I finally came up with a somewhat better title:  The Mozaic - Shattering the Veil.

Well, that's all for now. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 4, 2013

NaNoWriMo!


This year I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. I've been writing like a madman, and have kept on schedule, and in fact I've been ahead of the suggested 1,667 words per day. I may post some excerpts here on HDWT, or I may not. I haven't decided yet.

My novel has a lot of fantasy elements, but not most of the usual fantasy tropes. So there are no dwarves, elves, or other such fantasy races; except for lizardmen, or more like dinosaurmen/saurians. There is magic, and also many intelligent/sentient animal races. I've come up with a lot of great ideas I can use in gaming, and the whole idea behind the novel might make a good game world. I've decided that if I can't get any gaming in, then writing fiction is the next best thing. I'm gaming in my mind as I write. It really helps the creative process.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good Halloween. Mine was underwhelming, but that's okay, next year I plan on having a heck of a Halloween party.